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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Pepe Barbe)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 00:55:01 2001
Hello eveyrone in the list,

Its been a long time since I last posted anything here asking for
enlightment; but (damn be it) university has kept me away from the Role
playing.

We are about to start a new campaign, and I would like to have a few ideas
ahead before we start.

Our current campaign will consist of a group of freelance snoops who
publish their own screamsheet (Screamsheets they are called right?), called
"The Fenician Dragon", which tries to show the lay man, and the interested,
the conspiracies that are woven by powerful players behinds screen.
Something like the Lone GunMen, I haven't seen many chapters of that TV
series, but it inspired my players.

Anyway they are asking for a grim campaign, full of horror, and I thought
that there isn't a better place for that than Bug City. Some of my players
have some idea of what consists Bug City, so I don't want to start right
away in the Bug infested city, but lead them towards the city because of
some investagation, and the trap them in city full of confusion and fear.

I have Bug City here, and have just started reading it but I think there
are a few things that I don't know that do not appear in that sourcebook.
Maybe I will ask for things that are in Bug City, if so please say so.

From what I understand the Bug problem comes from the Universal
Brotherhood, which is some kind of goodwill cult, that preaches love to one
another but really is the facade for some metaplanar alien beings that are
triying to take this plane. Although this doesn't pop to until the hive in
Bug City is nuked, some unexplained problems were going on from way back,
like ppl starting to disappear.

What I would like to know is what are the evens that happened before Bug
City, and how they are connected to them, and what was the word on the
street about these problems. Also in what ways may my group, who start
investigating, in Seattle, something that at first glance does not have to
anything with the UB (I don't want to give them up any hint about they
ending in Bug City) may end in Chicago in the middle of all this mess
triying to run for their lives.

Thanks a lot,
Pepe
Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Damion Milliken)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 02:45:01 2001
Pepe Barbe writes:

> Our current campaign will consist of a group of freelance snoops who
> publish their own screamsheet (Screamsheets they are called right?),

Yeah, I think so, too.

> called "The Fenician Dragon", which tries to show the lay man, and the
> interested, the conspiracies that are woven by powerful players behinds
> screen. Something like the Lone GunMen, I haven't seen many chapters of
> that TV series, but it inspired my players.
>
> Anyway they are asking for a grim campaign, full of horror

I saw half an episode of that Lone Gunman thing, and it looked more like
comedy than horror to me :-)

> I have Bug City here, and have just started reading it but I think there
> are a few things that I don't know that do not appear in that sourcebook.
> Maybe I will ask for things that are in Bug City, if so please say so.

I can't write much, as I'm due to go and GM SR in about 20 minutes and I
have to pick up a player on the way, but I'll give a more elaborate response
later.

The Bugs in SR have a long and quite in depth history. In fact, I think that
the Bug story arc is the best SR plotline that there has been.

The story begins with the product called "The Universal Brotherhood", which
was a sealed product (one of the few SR sealed products). It contained a
folder with artwork, a module called "Missing Blood" and the largest Player
Handout ever, clocking in at round 90 pages or something.

The story ends with Bug City. In the middle are "Queen Euphoria" and
"Double
Exposure", both of which are excellent modules.

"The Universal Brotherhood" isn't the second most expensive SR product on
eBay for no reason. It's good. (The most expensive being those pesky Limited
1000 print run SR3 Hardcovers.)

As a side note to your desired campaign, the story behind "Missing Blood"
involves a bunch of reporters (all of whom end up dead or bugged I think). I
think you could pull a very interesting twist on this, and have your PCs
background be that _they_ were these reporters (thus finding the Player
Handout that _they_ wrote will be a nice shock to the system), and got
Laes'd/psychotropically reprogrammed/etc. Now, they're investigating the
missing girl in "Missing Blood", and they uncover this bug conspiracy that
they've already uncovered...

Anyway, I highly reccommend that you get ahold of the three products that I
mentioned. If you have trouble finding them (and as if you won't with "The
Universal Brotherhood" ;-)), I've just finished running my players through
the bug story arc (well, not Bug City just yet ;-)), and so I could loan you
the other three books until you get up to Bug City.

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong
Unofficial Shadowrun Guru E-mail: dam01@***.edu.au
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Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (GreyWolf)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 02:55:01 2001
> Hello eveyrone in the list,

<SNIP>

> Anyway they are asking for a grim campaign, full of horror, and I thought
> that there isn't a better place for that than Bug City. Some of my players
> have some idea of what consists Bug City, so I don't want to start right
> away in the Bug infested city, but lead them towards the city because of
> some investagation, and the trap them in city full of confusion and fear.

<SNIP some more..>

Pepe,

Usually it is customary to place some spoiler space (even just a little bit)
in front of revealing comments about major plot revelations like these. I
know the UB secret has been out for AGES.. but not everyone on the list has
been playing SR that long and not all of them have read 'Bug City' even if
they have ben playing a while.

Im not gridsec or anyone you have to listen to.. but if I didnt know what
happened in Bug City.. Id have rather youd put spoiler space in.

Im just dreading someone revelaing all about T:AL before I get my hands on
it.. <sigh> It still isnt down in Australia yet (that I have found...)

Cheers,

GreyWolf..
Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 05:50:16 2001
According to Damion Milliken, on Fri, 30 Nov 2001 the word on the street was...

> The story ends with Bug City.

No, it doesn't... *grin*

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"I know you're expecting me to take that as good news," Randy says.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+@ UL P L++ E W-(++) N o? K w+(--) O V?
PS+ PE(-)(+) Y PGP- t@ 5++ X(+) R+++(-)>$ tv+ b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 5
From: shadowrn@*********.com (shadowrn@*********.com)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 06:05:01 2001
On Fri, 30 Nov 2001, Gurth wrote:

>
> > The story ends with Bug City.
>
> No, it doesn't... *grin*
>

...and the men in black helicopters descend, grab Gurth and fly off,
shouting "Nothing to see here, move along"

if you dont want the same thing happening to you, dont read the Threats
book....

or the adventures dealing with the election...

or the novel "burning bright"....


--
john@*****.net
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..."
federal general Sedgwick at battle of Spottslvainia, 1864
SRGC SR1+ SR3++ !SR2 h b++ B--- UB IE+ RN+ !W ma+++ gm M-- P-
Message no. 6
From: shadowrn@*********.com (LeBlanc, Lange)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 08:05:01 2001
<SNIP>
>As a side note to your desired campaign, the story behind "Missing
Blood"
>involves a bunch of reporters (all of whom end up dead or bugged I
think). I
>think you could pull a very interesting twist on this, and have your
PCs
>background be that _they_ were these reporters (thus finding the Player
>Handout that _they_ wrote will be a nice shock to the system), and got
>Laes'd/psychotropically reprogrammed/etc. Now, they're investigating
the
>missing girl in "Missing Blood", and they uncover this bug conspiracy
that
>they've already uncovered...
<SNIP>

This is pretty accurate, and is an interesting twist on how to run the
adventure.

I'm wondering if anyone out there played this game (as a player) and had
characters survive more than 3 months after it's conclusion. We lost our
entire group (8 competent characters)to the whole "power players
conspiracy" concept (well, except for my character, but he had to be
"re-born" ... saved by his Yakuza family, lots of plastic surgery, and
implanted with a Cortex Bomb to make him more ... coopoerative). Now in
our defense, we were using 1st Ed rules, which weren't quite as "runner
friendly" if I remember correctly.
Message no. 7
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Pepe Barbe)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 11:55:01 2001
At 02:45 AM 11/30/2001, Damion Milliken wrote:
> > called "The Fenician Dragon", which tries to show the lay man, and the
> > interested, the conspiracies that are woven by powerful players behinds
> > screen. Something like the Lone GunMen, I haven't seen many chapters of
> > that TV series, but it inspired my players.
> >
> > Anyway they are asking for a grim campaign, full of horror
>
>I saw half an episode of that Lone Gunman thing, and it looked more like
>comedy than horror to me :-)

Well, it is. But my players have also asked for something spooky and I am
really going to give it to them.

> > I have Bug City here, and have just started reading it but I think there
> > are a few things that I don't know that do not appear in that sourcebook.
> > Maybe I will ask for things that are in Bug City, if so please say so.
>
>As a side note to your desired campaign, the story behind "Missing Blood"
><snip>
>
>Anyway, I highly reccommend that you get ahold of the three products that I
>mentioned. If you have trouble finding them (and as if you won't with "The
>Universal Brotherhood" ;-)), I've just finished running my players through
>the bug story arc (well, not Bug City just yet ;-)), and so I could loan you
>the other three books until you get up to Bug City.

I was asking for all that background info because I don't have any of those
products, and I was thinking more of a tangential, or parallel, approach to
the story than playing the "official" events. But if you could loan me
those books, that would be even better, because what you've proposed sounds
really good.

Pepe
Message no. 8
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Dan Turek)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 15:00:01 2001
Talking about UB/Missing Blood someone asked:

>I'm wondering if anyone out there played this game (as a player) and had
>characters survive more than 3 months after it's conclusion. We lost our
>entire group (8 competent characters)to the whole "power players
>conspiracy" concept (well, except for my character, but he had to be
>"re-born" ... saved by his Yakuza family, lots of plastic surgery, and
>implanted with a Cortex Bomb to make him more ... coopoerative). Now in
>our defense, we were using 1st Ed rules, which weren't quite as "runner
>friendly" if I remember correctly.

Our group had done Euphoria previously, so had some idea what to expect.
Thankfully it was after Xmas in game time, so I had bought the street sam
his own personal smartlink minigun, and other people had equally powerful
devastating items that we had bought in advance (someone else got him the
gyromount for it, for example). There were 7 of us, and only one standing
after the big fight, though we all survived. One player wanted to "warn the
people" and we agreed we should... at some point. After stopping ritual
sorcery on him (within the week) the rest of us decided to take month long
vacations in different parts of the world. Unfortunately he stayed around
"telling the story" and was assassinated. The rest of us decided to not say
much about any of the events, and certainly didn't follow up on anything. If
the campaign had lasted long enough for Bug City maybe we would have felt
guilty, but at least we had a chance to stay alive.

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
Message no. 9
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Kesh)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Fri Nov 30 23:25:05 2001
On Fri, 30 Nov 2001 18:45:46 +1100, Damion Milliken wrote:

>The story begins with the product called "The Universal Brotherhood", which
>was a sealed product (one of the few SR sealed products). It contained a
>folder with artwork, a module called "Missing Blood" and the largest Player
>Handout ever, clocking in at round 90 pages or something.
>
>The story ends with Bug City. In the middle are "Queen Euphoria" and
"Double
>Exposure", both of which are excellent modules.

Actualy, the story of Bug City ends with Target: UCAS and the bugs get a
3e wrapup in Magic In The Shadows. I would assume some of the upcoming
books will deal with the topic of insect spirits more as well, including
Year Of The Comet and the upcoming book about North America.

And the novel "Burning Bright" is *the* book to read for information on
what goes on when the big breakout occurs in the city. I found a copy at
a used bookstore this summer and snatched it up, having read it before.

If I can ever get a SR group together, I want to run a Bug City campaign.
Probably starting about 2 years prior in Chicago, giving me a good lead
time to drop hints and have normal runs before dropping the big bug bomb
and seeing which characters live through the aftermath. :) And of course,
we can continue after T:UCAS with characters trying to rebuild their
careers once the immediate crisis is over.
Message no. 10
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Damion Milliken)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Sun Dec 2 11:50:01 2001
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spoiler space for all things bug...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
OK, thanks to all who pointed out that I had missed all the bug related
products after Bug City, and who mentioned the novels.

Roughly speaking, I'll give a brief overview of the various SR products that
deal with bugs, in approximately the order that they occur in the SR world.

Universal Brotherhood
---------------------
One of the best SR products ever, in many people's opinions. Others,
however, fail to see the attraction. This is where it all began. The product
contains a folder despicting various nasty type bugs, a module called
"Missing Blood" and a HUGE player handout detailing some of the nastiness
behind the UB. The module revolves around locating the missing mistress of a
Renraku executive. She joined the UB, and got infested as a bug. If the PCs
do well, they discover the bug coverup at the local chapterhouse. If they do
really well, they find the huge player handout and realise that the coverup
is UB-wide. I like the run because in some ways it's an oroborus tailchaser
type run. The executive who hires the runners isn't at all worried about his
wife leaving him and his mistress being missing, because in the end he joins
this wonderful organisation ... the UB.

2XS
---
This novel is one of the better. It's early, but it deals with not only 2XS
BTL chips, but the dubious (possibly bug ridden ;-)) operations of
CrashCart, a competitor of DocWagon. It has a bug hive as a major plot
element, and is good for background knowledge of bugs (and stealing plot
ideas ;-)) if nothing else.

Queen Euphoria
--------------
A run first about kidnapping Euphoria, a major simsense star. Then about
finding her when she gets kidnapped again... Unfortunately, the second time,
it was by a bug shaman. In the end, her employer, Megamedia Inc, films the
runners eliminating an entire bug hive, edits the footage, and sells it as
Euphoria's last sim, "Against the Hive Masters". Barring a couple of
suspension of disbelief concerns ("What, we got hired to 'nap her, and
_then_ to find her?), the run is quite good and a lot of fun. It might be
better tackled for Pepe's game from the perspective of investigating her two
rapid disappearances (while they were occurring), more than being directly
involved.

Double Exposure
---------------
This is where the UCAS government (hopefully) learns about, and begins to
take actions against, the bugs and the UB. The runners are hired (or
blackmailed ;-)) into investigating some charity camps in the barrens. After
finding out (hopefully) about various dodgy deals with Renraku and
cybernetic research, the runners (maybe) find the massive bug hive behind it
all. If they play their cards right, the UCAS government begins to take care
of the bug problem.

Burning Bright
--------------
A fairly good novel in itself, this details the goings on just prior to,
during, and just after the Cermak Blast. It details these things to a quite
fine level, and is ideal if you plan to "trap" runners in Chicago during the
lockdown. It'll give you an idea of what happens when, where, and how fast.

Bug City
--------
Well, duh!

Super Tuesday
-------------
There is a run in here, set during the 2057 Presidential election, where the
runners have to go inside Bug City. It's got something to do with Anne
Penchyk, the VP candidate for General Yeats. I've run it, and it runs OK,
but I can't recall many details. Anyway, it's about mantid spirits, and so
provides an interesting alternative point of view to the "bugs want to kill
us all" perspective we'd seen up until now.

Shadows of the Underworld
-------------------------
More 2057 election runs. There's a run in here, which I've never run, but it
revolves around General Yeats getting turned into some sort of bug spirit.
If I recall correctly, the runners are somehow setup or framed in this run
and almost immediately exposed to either the cops or the media. This run
would be good for Pepe if his characters happened to be "the first on the
scene" to either find the problem (and thus end up 'framed' or whatever) or
to assist some poor NPC runners who had been.

Target: UCAS
------------
This more or less wraps up Bug City. If I recall correctly, basically Ares
dumps a drekload of FAB 3 (that really nasty astral virus type thing) in the
area and wipes out most of the bugs (and ghouls, and magicians, and anything
else magically active) in the city.

Threats
-------
"Smart" Bugs make an apperance as a major threat item in here. These bugs
are rather similar to the ones encountered in Double Exposure in my view.
They are the "good merge" kind and are very cunning, able to blend into
human society, and so forth. There are good ideas for a "conspiracy" type
campaign in here.

Magic in the Shadows
--------------------
This has the latest rules for bugs. However, the statistics and capabilities
of bugs changed with nearly every book in which they occurred. This was
intentional, as different strains and types of bugs (even the same type,
like "ant") are supposed to be different. It keeps the players on their
toes. I suggest using the stats more or less as presented in the respective
books in which they occur, to keep your players guessing.

Are there any products that I missed, anyone?

Which of these do you have, Pepe? And which can you get? Some of them I am
still using, but some (such as the early ones) I can loan to you, as I
shouldn't need them for several months.

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong
Unofficial Shadowrun Guru E-mail: dam01@***.edu.au
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Message no. 11
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Lars Wagner Hansen)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Sat Dec 8 08:55:00 2001
From: "Damion Milliken" <dam01@***.edu.au>
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> Spoiler space for all things bug...
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> !
> OK, thanks to all who pointed out that I had missed all the bug related
> products after Bug City, and who mentioned the novels.
>
> Roughly speaking, I'll give a brief overview of the various SR products that
> deal with bugs, in approximately the order that they occur in the SR world.
>
> Universal Brotherhood
<Snip>
> Queen Euphoria

Hmm... Accordig to the adventures QE happens before UB:

Queen Euphoria (#7304, ©1990)
"The year is 2050" (introduction, p.6)
Megamedia contract dated 2050 (player handout, p.65)
Seattle News-Intelligencer dated 15 January 2051 (p.67)

Missing Blood, Universal Brotherhood (#7205, ©1990)
"The year is 2050" (introduction, p.6)
Wanderly's research was conducted "earlier this spring" (legwork, p.44)
the Grodin's Tavern Shadowland Hub fire was 6 MAY 2051 (UB document, end)

But as the adventures dosn't affect each other, and there are no relations
between the two adventures (apart from the bugs), you could play them in any
order you want to.

> Magic in the Shadows

If mentioning MitS, then you should also mention The Grimoire (14th Edition),
and The Grimoire (15th Edition).

Lars
--
Lars Wagner Hansen, Jagtvej 11, 4180 Sorø
l-hansen@*****.tele.dk http://home4.inet.tele.dk/l-hansen
--
SRGC v0.22 SR1 SR2++ SR3+++ h+ b+++ B--- UB++ IE+ RN LST W++ dk sa++ ma+
sh++ ad++++ ri mc rk-- m- (e-- o t-- d-) gm+ M- P-
--
Main Rule of Usenet: Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to
their level, then beat you with experience.
Message no. 12
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Kesh)
Subject: Bugs! Lot's of 'em!
Date: Sat Dec 8 14:20:01 2001
On Sat, 8 Dec 2001 14:08:26 +0100, Lars Wagner Hansen wrote:

>> Magic in the Shadows
>
>If mentioning MitS, then you should also mention The Grimoire (14th Edition),
>and The Grimoire (15th Edition).
>
>Lars

Nah, 'cause MitS supercedes the info in any version of the Grimoire and
in Awakenings.

Further Reading

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Thwap!